‘Girls’ Helped Breathe New Life Into TV’s Music

Last night marked the end of a television era. After six seasons, 62 episodes, and countless think pieces, Lena Dunham’s show about how messy life, love, and friendship is in your 20s came to an end last night. Girls will be remembered for many things, from its realistic portrayals of sex to Shoshanna’s hair. However, what I’ll miss most about the HBO dramedy is its gorgeous soundtrack, which helped redefine music’s relationship with prestige TV.

Several shows in television history are known for their incredible soundtracks, but from The O.C. to Gossip Girl, most of these shows were too soapy to be considered “serious” television. For a long time, having a great soundtrack on a show mostly indicated that series was created for a younger-skewing audiences. There were exceptions, such as Scrubs and early seasons of Glee, which balanced light-hearted tones with serious themes and deserved awards attention.

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Prior to Girls, prestige TV didn’t have as many memorable soundtracks so much as it had powerful musical moments. One of the most iconic of those moments was the use of “Don’t Stop Believing” in The Sopranos series finale. However, those memorable moments were few and far between until the premiere of Breaking Bad. Like so many discussions about the evolution of great TV, it wasn’t until Breaking Bad that a strong, smart, and well-selected soundtrack became a necessity for prestige television. From its very first episode in 2012, Girls pushed that trend to its logical conclusion. The music of Lena Dunham’s series is so perfectly incorporated into the series, it’s part of the show’s DNA.

From its breathless dialogue to its never-ending catalogue of outfits that border the line between childhood and adulthood, the HBO divisive show has always been about insecurity. However, it’s Girls’ soundtrack that firmly grounds the show’s liminal characters. Though we may hate literally every decision they make, we know exactly who the women of Girls are. They’re privileged, white, Brooklynites who are defined not by what they know but what they don’t know. Girls’ soundtrack, packed with wandering and folksy indie songs the often feature female vocalists, does wonders when it comes to creating this complicated atmosphere. Similar to the show, many of these ballads may seem sweet and gentle on a surface level, but listening to their lyrics uncovers a world of anxieties and insecurities. Time and time again, Girls was able to create big, emotional, music-filled moments that could compete against its prestige TV peers all while featuring songs the characters of the show would actually listen to.

As the show’s characters have slowly and painfully grown up, so too has the music evolved. After Season 2, gone are many of the loud top 40s hits that used to blare from club scenes, though we will never forget Icona Pop. In these songs’ place are more emotionally compelling pleas from artists like Bønes and Lia Ices. The women of the series may still have fun, but their choices now have a weight tied to age that early seasons seemed to lack. Perhaps the biggest nod to Girls’ subtly changing music comes from one of its most famous collaborators. Season 1, Episode 3 ended with Hannah (Dunham) unapologetically rocking out to Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own.” In honor of this memorable moment, the Swedish pop singer allowed Dunham to pick any song from a collection of in-progress tracks to premiere in Season 6. Dunham selected “Honey,” another bouncy song from the pop singer, but one tinged with sadness and solemnity underneath its happy hook. “Honey” is still a lot of fun, but it’s a more mature, introspective listen, much like Girls last season compared to its first.

Girls certainly isn’t solely responsible for modern TV’s impressive audio line-up. However, the show brought its music front and center in a way few shows do. Without Girls, it may have been easier to overlook some of the musical nuances of great works like Noah Hawley’s Fargo and Donald Glover’s Atlanta. Even subtler moments, like Westworld’s sprawling, expansive scores laced with ‘80s hits and Mr. Robot’s off-kilter and pointedly on-the-nose use of rock classics, may have been more difficult to pinpoint if Girls hadn’t spent so many years treating its music as a fifth girl.

We’re all going to miss Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna in our own ways. However, without new episodes of Girls, I think all of our getting ready playlists are going to take a hit.